NLCS GAME 1: Dodgers miss chances, fall in 13 innings to Cardinals

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Zack Greinke throws during the first inning of Game 1 of the National League baseball championship series against the St. Louis Cardinals Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

MORE DODGERS

ST. LOUIS >> Given the chance to knock a wobbly pitcher out with a flurry of blows, the Dodgers decided to counter-punch instead.

And it cost them.

Handed a two-run lead in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Zack Greinke lost focus for five minutes in the bottom of the third inning and handed the runs right back.

And an otherwise beautifully pitched, winnable game slipped through his fingers.

Afforded a chance to put his mark on the game, Don Mattingly made a stunningly imprudent decision and a potential late-inning threat floated away along the nearby Mississippi River.

With it, one of the Dodgers’ best hitters drifted down the river too.

And yes, the Dodgers could have used Adrian Gonzalez in the batter’s box more than on the bench, when his turn at bat later came up in the 10th and the 12th innings with runners in scoring position — a situation he’s conquered this year to the tune of a .909 OPS.

Instead, Michael Young batted with the go-ahead run 90 feet away rather than Gonzalez in the 10th after Mark Ellis’ line drive snuck under the glove of a diving Jon Jay for a one-out triple.

But Young lifted a shallow fly ball to right field and the Dodgers foolishly challenged the throwing arm of Carlos Beltran on Young’s fly ball to right field.

Ellis went scurrying home, but Beltran’s throw was sure, swift and on target.

Inning over. Threat wasted.

Again.

Then with two on and one out in the 12th, up came Young again.

Only to ground into an inning-ending double play.

The Dodgers were finished at that point, the only question who would deliver the knockout punch and when.

That would be Beltran, who ripped a single off Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the 13th to plate the winning run as the Cardinal won 3-2 in the opener.

The reality is, this game was lost by the Dodgers much sooner.

Sabotaged by their impotence with runners in scoring position, sloppy base running and one very curious decision by Mattingly to lift Gonzalez for pinch-runner Dee Gordon.

“It’s one of those that that you have to shoot your bullet when you get the chance,” Mattingly said afterward.

Mattingly’s lapse came in the eighth inning when Gonzalez led off with a walk.

Deciding to be aggressive, Mattingly pulled Gonzalez in favor of Gordon, thinking Gordon could either steal second base and put himself in scoring position or go first to third — or better — on a base hit by Yasiel Puig.

Advertisement

“That’s what we brought Dee on the club for,” Mattingly said. “He has a chance to steal a bag and help you win the game. We’re trying to win a game.”

Secondly, for all of Gordon’s speed, he isn’t always a polished base runner.

And that was exposed when Puig’s grounder to the right of shortstop Matt Carpenter ended in a force out at second when Gordon hesitated between first and second.

The Dodgers were left without a runner in scoring position and Gonzalez, as clutch a hitter as there is on the club, was out of the game.

And that is on Mattingly, who defended the decision afterward.

“If we don’t use him there and the next guy hits a ball in the gap and he doesn’t score and we don’t score there, we’re going to say, why didn’t you use Dee?” Mattingly saidd.

But try explaining that to Gonzalez and his .909 OPS with runners in scoring position.

“It’s part of the game,” a subdued Gonzalez said. “Unfortunately I was out of the game.”

And helpless watching from the bench.

“It’s always tough to see watch your team lose,” he said.

Or tell that Hanley Ramirez, whom the Cardinals wisely opted to intentionally walk twice to deal with Young instead.

Without Gonzalez as protection behind him, Ramirez may as well have left his bat in the dugout.

And that is on Mattingly.

Rather than let the ideal situation emerge to insert the speedy Gordon onto the base paths, Mattingly panicked by rushing him in on Gonzalez’s walk, a move that jackknifed the Dodgers at two other critical intersections.

The winning recipe in postseason baseball is remarkably easy.

Throw the knockout punch when you get the chance. Make the right pitch when you have to. Put your team in the best possible position to succeed every time, all the time.

The Dodgers couldn’t.

And Mattingly didn’t.

Who does all those things and survives?

Not the Dodgers.

And now they face a near win-or-else situation in Game 2, desperately needing to even the series with Clayton Kershaw on the mound.

Or fall into a 0-2 hole and rely on Hyun-Jin Ryu and Ricky Nolasco to help dig them out.

That looks like a recipe for disaster, which is why Game 1 was a critical get for the Dodgers.

But their own mistakes doomed them.

October baseball is defined by practicality and execution.

But when it came time to display both qualities, the Dodgers came up woefully short.